W. Bush invaded Iraq, claiming that it possessed weapons of mass destruction, the whole Arab nation and many people around the world expressed opposition to this war, con-sidering it an unjustified invasion of an Arab sov-ereign country that would cause chaos through-out the Arab region.At the time, President Hosni Mubarak warned that such a war would seriously damage the unity of Iraq, because it is composed of many sects. Mubarak was right, as Iraq has suffered terri-bly, not only because of the armed resistance operations against the occupation forces, but also because of the conflict between the Sunnis, who supported the toppled regime, and both the Shi'ites and Kurds, who were oppressed by Saddam Hussein.Now, as the US troops are beginning to pack their bags, the whole world is looking anxiously at Iraq and the Maliki Government, wondering if this step will unify the Iraqi people behind their armed forces, in order to restore security and peace to the war-ravaged country.If not, different rival groups would only step up their violent operations, to try and gain what they can and dominate Iraq. Some analysts believe that Iraq won't descend into fresh sectarian warfare, apparently because Iran is busy with its own domestic dilemma, in the aftermath of its presidential elections. Foreign analysts hope that Ahmadinejad's domestic weakness, caused by the dubious election results, will minimise Tehran's influence on Iraq, as well as other groups in Lebanon and Palestine.If so, Iraqi Shi'ites might unify behind their gov-ernment, in order to preserve their country's unity and rebuild it, once the American occupa-tion is all over by the end of 2011.